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Laatikkomo – six degrees of photography

Mapping photography around the world

On May 18th, 2013, the international photography project Laatikkomo was set in motion.

Laatikkomo can be translated into English as “Box (gallery)”, and as its name suggests, it is a large, outdoor, glassed-in, box-frame in Jyväskylä, Finland. This project is inspired by the theory tested by American social psychologist, Stanley Milgram that suggests we can all be linked to each other through six people. Laatikkomo visually tests this theory using six linkages of professional photographers.

To initiate this project, we have chosen six photographers from six different continents. Each photographer will show one of their own images for fourteen days, and choose another photographer to follow them in their link-path. This next photographer will also show one image for 14 days, choose her/his sequential photographer, and so on. After the initial six artists, the whole process depends on the coincidence of the choice of each subsequent artist.

Laatikkomo opened with the beginning of the European link, Finnish photographer Milja Laurila on May 18th, 2013. The next line of links began in Asia, with Nepalese photographer Prasiit Sthapit on June 1st. The third linkage on June 15th with Australian photographer Pilar Mata Dupont, followed by the representative of the African Continent, South African Andrew Tshabangu on June 29th. On July 13th, the South American path was represented by Colombian photographer Carolina Montejo. And this first round of link-initiators was completed with Mexican Alejandra Laviada for the North American continent. Each of these photographers chose their sequel, and the exhibitions have now rotated in this same order allowing two full weeks per artist. The connections are charted on the Laatikkomo website, mapping the six paths of contemporary photography from around the world in six different colours.

Laatikkomo is the recipient of grants from the Jyväskylä Science and Art Foundation in 2013 and the Arts Promotion Centre National Council for Photographic Art, in 2013 and 2016.